Goodbye JFK Concorde Room: British Airways and American are joining forces in New York

Three years ago, British Airways announced it would be leaving its dedicated Terminal 7 facilities at New York JFK airport and re-locating to Terminal 8 with joint venture partner American Airlines.

The move is part of a $13bn improvement project at the airport. It will see JetBlue expanding from Terminal 5 to cover the space previously occupied by Terminal 6 and Terminal 7. As part of the process, Terminal 8 will be expanded at a cost of £250m.

Somewhat shockingly, it appears that the building work has not been delayed by Covid because British Airways has announced that it will be moving into its new home on 1st December 2022.

11 months and counting

Significant work is ahead. Despite breaking ground in early 2020, this is what the site looked like in November 2021:

The new building work will see five new widebody gates plus four widebody remote stands being built, plus upgrades to the baggage handling system.

The most visible changes will be to the premium facilities. These are being reconfigured entirely, with both BA and AA sharing lounges and more.

A new, Heathrow First Wing-style premium check-in service will replace the current Flagship First check-in experience and cater to both AA and BA customers:

Business class customers will also have a new “thoughtfully designed” dedicated area.

Three new lounges are on their way

Once through check-in, the airlines are completely re-imagining the lounge spaces. Three new lounges will emerge with seating for a total of 1,000 passengers.

The top lounge will become an exclusive retreat. Although access rules have yet to be announced, it is likely to be those travelling in First only, potentially with Concorde Room cardholders too. This is essentially a combination of the current Concorde Room and Flagship First dining spaces and will feature a champagne bar, fireside lounge and a la carte dining room:

A second premium lounge will be open, most likely for anyone with BA Gold or oneworld Emerald status and will feature a wine bar, cocktail lounge library and buffet. “Sweeping airside views” are also promised.

Finally, the current AA Flagship and Concourse B Admirals Club lounges will become a single business class lounge. Although not confirmed, we assume this will be open to anyone flying business or with BA Silver (oneworld Sapphire) status.

Conclusion

The loss of Terminal 7 is not hugely detrimental. Flying has changed a lot in the 52 years it has been open and in many ways it was no longer fit for purpose.

Whilst it’s sad to say goodbye to the Concorde Room branding, these new lounges look like genuine upgrades to the current British Airways and American Airlines lounges at JFK. Finnair and Iberia will also be using these new facilities.

With such a vast volume of premium passengers it will be interesting to see how they can create intimate and cosy lounge spaces. One of the criticisms of the current British Airways lounges at JFK, only recently refurbished, is that they feel like a soulless IKEA restaurant.

To facilitate the work, Flagship First check-in will close from 1st February for construction. However, this should have minimal impact on BA customers who will continue to use the Terminal 7 facilities until the move in December.

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As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

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